Feeding mechanism for slicing machines



Jan. 30, 1934. w. A. VAN BERKEL FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SLICING MACHINES Filed May 17, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 3Q, 1934. w. A. VAN BERKEL 1,945,127

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SLICING MACHINES Filed May 17, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Zl/ /77 Z; RI

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Patented Jan. 30, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SLICING MACHINES Wilhelmus Adrianus van Berkel,

Clarens,

Switzerland, assigner to U. S. Slicing Machine Company, La Porte, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application May 17, 1930, Serial No. 453.142, and in Great Britain December 3, 1929 13 Claims.

In the ordinary construction of slicing machines the work is supported upon a feed plate which slides upon a work support or undertable which latter may be moved back and forth past the cutting edge of the slicing knife, or if desired the undertable may be held stationary and the slicing knife may be moved back and forth so as to cut slices from the substance supported on the feed plate. After each successive slice has been cut from the substance, the feed plate is advanced towards the cutting plane of the knife so that when the table and knife move towards each other to cut the next slice from the substance, the substance will be in a position to have a slice cut therefrom. The amount that the feed plate is moved towards the cutting plane of the knife determines the thickness of the slice which is cut from the substance, and in order to obtain a uniform thickness for the slices, it is necessary to provide means to insure that the feed plate will always be fed the same amount at each reciprocation of the knife and table relatively to each other.

An object of this invention therefore is to provide a feeding mechanism which will accurately feed the substance towards the cutting plane of the knife.

My invention also has for its object the provision of a suitable feed mechanism which feeds 'the feed plate towards the cutting plane of the knife and which embodies a suitable friction device for retarding the movement of the feeding plate to prevent excessive movement thereof and also to prevent movement of the feed plate at times other than the time during which the feeding is intended to take place.

More specifically my invention pertains to a suitable friction brake Which frictionally holds the feed plate against movement along its guid- This brake while ordinarily in enbe released by a suitable releasing arm provided on the feeding mechanism.

The friction brake which I use is spring pressed in engagement with the guide rod by which the feed plate is guided and a suitable arm is adapted to release the brake by counteracting the infiuence of the spring on the brake. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, I have illusy trated the brake as being releasable only after the means which feeds the table has been released and a single releasing member is provided for releasing both the feeding means and the brake. I may however, desire to release the brake without releasing the feeding mechanism or I may re- (Cl. 14S-102) lease the two means simultaneously instead of successively.

Another object of this invention resides in means for releasing the brake When it is desired to move the feed plate quickly along its guide, it being necessary with this operation to also simultaneously or successively release the feeding mechanism for feeding the feed plate along the guide as otherwise the feeding mechanism would Fig. 4 is a view partly in section showing the brake which acts upon the guide rod for the feed plate;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing a modified arrangement for the braking means; and

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6'of Fig. 5.

The slicing machine comprises the usual base member 1 having an upstanding bracket 2 which rotatably supports the knife 3. A suitable guide rod 4 supported by means of the bracket'5 is used to guide one side of the undertable designated generally as 6. A bearing 7 on the downwardlyv extending bracket 8 of the table 6 surrounds the guide rod 4 and guides one side of the undertable 6. The opposite side of the undertable 6 rotatably supports the roller 9 by means of the spaced arms 10 and this roller rides on a bearing surface 1l formed integral with the base 1. A retaining member 12 secured by means of screws 13, has a projection 14 thereon engaging a suitable longitudinal recess 15 in one edge of the base member. This retaining member prevents any substantial vertical movement of this side of the table andv holds the roller 9 in engagement with the bearing surface 11.

A shaft 16 is adapted to be rotated by any suitable means usually a fly-wheel provided with an operating handle and this shaft 16 rotates the crank 1'7 by means of gears (not shown) and the crank 17 is pivotally connected at 18 to a conmeeting rod 19 pvoted at 20 to a downwardly ex- 5 of the knife 3 due to the connections which I have just described. This part of the construction is common to slicing machines of this nature, and it is believed that a further illustration of this means is unnecessary. A guide rod 23 is secured by means of the screws 22 to the undertable 6, and a bearing block 24 has bearing surfaces which ride on and partially surround the guide rod 23. The bearing block 24 has upwardly extending projections 25 which project into corresponding recesses in the member 26 to which is secured the feed plate 27. In order to hold the member 26 reieasable in the position shown in the drawings, I provide a pair of retaining elements 28 and 29, the element 28 being secured rigidly to the bearing block 24 by means of screws 30 and at a slight inclination to the vertical. The retaining element 29 on the other hand is pivoted on the screw 3l and is yieldingly urged in a clockwise `direction as viewed in Fig. 2 by a spring 32 arranged within a suitable recess in the element 29 and over a projection 33 on the bracket 34 which latter is secured to the side of the bearing block 24 by means of screws 35. Each of the elements 28 and 29 has a substantially spherical 30 seat 36 and a ball 37 preferably of hardened steel is arranged within the recess 38 of the bracket 34 and this ball is .adapted to engage the spherical seat 36 on the elements 28 and 29. A screw threaded member 39 carrying a knurled head 40 is fscrew threaded into the opening 38 and is adaptedV to engage the ball 37 to move the ball towards the elements 29 and 28.

The member 26 has a slot cut in one edge thereof for the reception of the elements 29 and 28 and 40; this slot has sloping ends 4l and 42 adapted to be engaged by the elements 28 and 29. It will be seen that if the knurled head 46 is rotated to retract the screw- 39 from the recess 38, the ball 37 will be free to move to the left as viewed in Fig. 3,

457 thus permitting the element 29 to move in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 and permit the insertion in or removal of the elements 28 and 29 from the slot. When the elements 28 and 29 have been inserted in the slot the knurled 5=-` head 40 is turned in such a direction as to move the ball 37 towards the seat 36 and thereby move the element 29 away from the element 28 and thereby cause these elements to engage their respective sloping surfaces 42 and 4l and thereby prevent vertical and lateral movement of the member 26 and feed plate 27.

Formed integral with the bearing block 24, is a downwardly extending bracket 43 having a block 44 secured to the lower end thereof and extending 6o laterally away from the bracket 43 is best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. A member 45 is arranged above the block 44 and is adapted to slide in a direction parallel to the guide rod 23. In order to prevent movement of the member 45 laterally away from the bracket 43, I provide a cover plate 46 shown in Fig. l which is secured inV place by means of a screw 47 and also by means of the handle 48 which is arranged on the outside of the cover plate, but which lies closely 7C adjacent the cover plate.

The bracket 43 is provided with an outwardly extending bracket 49 carrying the self-alining pivotal bearings 56 and 5l for the arms 52 and A, 53 respectively. The arm 53 has screw threads 75 54thereon adapted to engage the threads on the feed screw 55 rotatably mounted in the brackets 56 and 8 on the undertable 6. The arm 52 may be provided with screw threads for engaging the screw threads on the feed screw 55, but I prefer to form only a cut away portion 56 therein oi substantially the same curvature as the curvature of the outer surfaces of the feed screw. Whenever the screw threads on the member 53 are in engagement with the threads on the feed screw 55, the rotation of the feed screw will cause a movement of the feed plate 27 along the guide rod 23, and towards or from the cutting plane of the knife.

The ends of the arms 52 and 53 carry the rotatable rollers 57 and 58 which have substantially the configuration illustrated in Fig. 3, and these rollers 57 and 58 are arranged within the slots 59 and 66 respectively in the member 45.

ese slots act as cam slots to move the arms 52 and 53 away from the feed screw when the member 45 is moved to the left as viewed in Fig. 2, or to move the members 52 and 53 towards the feed screw when the member 45 is moved to the right as viewed in Fig. 2. It is normally desirable to have the screw threads 54 engaging the threads o-n the feed screw 55, and therefore I provide a spring 61 arranged within a recess' 62 in the bracket 34, and also within a recess 63 in an eX- tension 64 on the member 45 for moving the member 45 to the right as viewed in Fig. 2. The recess 62 and the outer surface of the extension 64 are substantially cylindrical in the preferred embodiment of my invention, but it will be understood, of course, that any other shape may be given to these parts if desired. The extension 64 also acts an additional guiding means for the member 45 and thic may if desired be the sole guiding means for this member.

In order to move the member 45 against the action of the spring 6l, I provide the pin 65 mounted on the member 45 and arrange this pin within a slot 66 in the arm 4S. The arm 48 is pivoted on a bearing surface on the screw 67 and carries a rotatable operating member 68 on the end thereof. By moving the handle ,48 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. l, the pin is moved to the left and as a result the member 45 moves to the left and actuates the arms 52 and 53 so as to throw the same out of engagement with the feed screw.

With the mechanism just described I am enabled to release the bearing member 24 from operative engagement with the feed screw, and I may move the bearing block 24 freely along the guide rod 23 after the members 52 yand 53 have been thrown to their outermost positions.

In order to prevent excessive movement of the arms 52 and 53 in a direction away from the feed screw 55, I provide the bracket 49 with a plate 65 having projections 70 and 7l which lie in the paths of movement of the 52 and 53. A square guide rod 72 supported by means of brackets 73 engages a suitable slot in the end of the bracket 49 and prevents movement of the bracket 49 in a vertical direction. rIhe brackets 73 are secured to the undertable 6.

The means for rotating the feed screw is best illustrated perhaps in Fig. l. The feed screw itself its provided with a ratchet wheel 74 secured to one end thereof. A handle 75 rotatably mounted on a crank 76 may be used to manually rotate the feed screw. during reciprocation of the undertable 6 I provide a pawl 75 pivoted at 76 to a member 77 freely rotatable on a bearing surface on the feed.

In order to rotate the feed screw Y screw. As the member 77 is rocked about the feed screw, the pawl will move the ratchet dur` ing the movement of the member 77 in one direction and will ride over the teeth of the pawl when moved in the other direction providing however, that the pawl does not cause a retro-- grade movement of the feed screw as it moves in this direction. A spring 78 normally holds the member 77 in one of its extreme positions. The member 77 is pivotally connected to a link 79 which latter is in turn pivotally connected to a cam lever 80. This cam lever is pivoted at 8l to a bracket 82 extending downwardly from the underside of the undertable 6, and the free end 80 of the lever 80 has a cam surface thereon adapted to be engaged by a cam roller 83 rotatably mounted on a pivot 84 secured to the connecting rod 19.

As the crank 17 is rotated, the arm 19 moves the roller not only in a direction parallel to the guide rod 4, but also in a direction transverse thereto, and as the carriage approaches one extent of its travel preferably that which is farthest away from the slicing knife, the roller 83 engages the cam surface on the cam lever 80 and thereby rocks the member 77 through the intermediacy of the link 79. The rocking movement of the arm 77 therefore is always constant due to' the fact that the cam lever 80 is always moved the same amount at e-ach reciprccation of the undertable. A cam 85 interposed between the member 77 and the ratchet 74 and adjustable angularly about the feed screw relatively to the ratchet 74 by mechanism not shown is adapted to engage the member 86 on the pivot '76 to raise the pawl out of engagement with the teeth during a certain portion of the rocking movement of the member 77. This determines the amount of rotation which is to be given by the pawl to the ratchet 74 in a manner which is well known in the art to which this invention pertains. Therefore for each reciprocation of the undertable the feed screw is rotated a predetermined amount depending on the position of the cam 85, and this movement is imparted to the bearing block 24 by means of the screw threads 54 on the arm 53 when the same are in engagement with threads on the feed screw.

In order that the movement which is impartedY to' the block 24 by the feed screw will always remain constant, I provide the following mechanism:

The block 24 (see particularly Fig. 5) carries a pivot pin 87 which is in the form of a screw extending through the opposed. ears 88 and screw threaded into one of the ears -to hold the pivot pin in place. Rotatably mounted on the pivot pin 87, is a member S9 having a central enlarged portion 90 provided with a flat sur-face 91 best illustrated in Fig. 5, and carrying an arm 92 at one end thereof, this arm being made integral with or permanently fastened thereto in any suitable manner. Arranged between the member 89 and the guide rod 23 is a brake shoe 92' which has its upper surface of substantially the same configuration as the adjacent surface of the guide red, and which has downwardly extending lugs 93 which straddle the pin 87 and also straddle the enlarged central portion 90. The lugs 93 prevent movement of the brake shoe 92 longitudinally and transversely of the pivot pin 87. By an inspection of Fig. 5 it will be seen that when the arm 92 is rocked in a counter-clockwise direction, the flat surface will be tilted at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the guide rod 23. The brake shoe 92 which is made of a relatively sof-t metal having good wearing qualities and a good friction surface is provided with a hardened steel plate 94 interposed between the brake shoe and the flat surface 91 on the enlarged portion 9). The plate 94 prevents excessive wear between the brake shoe and the fiat surface 91. When the arm 92 is rocked about the .pivot pin 87, one end of the flat surface is raised higher than the other end thereof and forces the brake shoe against the underside of the guide rod 23. Since this brake shoe is constrained to move with the bearing block 24 and since the feed plate is secured to the bearing block 24, the brake shoe will exert a constant retarding force to the movement of the plate 1ongitudinally of the guide rod as long as a constant force is exerted 4on the arm 92.

In order to exert a relatively constant force on the arm 92, I provide a bracket 95 secured by the screws 96 to the underside of the block 44, and provide this bracket with an upstanding offset portion 97 carrying a pin 98, a similar pin 99 being arranged in opposed relation to ythe pin 98 on the arm 92. A spring 100 is arranged over the pins 98 and 99 and tends to move the arm 92 away from the cifset portion 97 and in a counter'-l clockwise direction about the pivot pin 87. v

During the normal operation of the slicing machine the feed screw is given a step by step movement which imparts a step by step movement to the feed plate 27 longitudinally of the undertable 6 through the intermediacy of the screw threads 54 on the member 53 which normally are in engagement with the threads of the feed screw. The brake shoe 92 also is normally in eng-agement with the guide rod 23 and exerts a constant frictional force thereon which retards the movement of the feed plate and prevents overrunning of the feed 'plate in the event that the motion imparted to the feed screw is rapid or varying and this also prevents retrograde movement of the feed plate. Thus insuring that for each reciprocation of the undertable 6, the same amount of feed will be given to the feed plate for a given setting of the cam 85.

Uniform movements of the feed plate impart uniform movements of the substance to be sliced since the substance is usually clamped to the feed plate by means of a suitable clamp mounted on the support 101 or the like, and as a result slices of uniform thickness are cut from the substance, and of course this is extremely desirable in machines of this nature.

However, after the feed plate has been advanced as far as is permitted by the feeding rnechanism or as far as is desired by the operator, it is necessary or desirable to retract the feeding plate to its original position away from the cuttingv plane of the knife to thereby permit one to adjust the substance thereon, or to replace the substance by another substance to be sliced. The means for releasing the feed plate from the mechanism has been previously described, but in order to insure free movement of the feed plate longitudinally of the guide rod it is necessary to also release the brake mechanism. For this purpose I provide a pin 102 on the member 45, and this is adapted to engage an outwardly extending portion 103 on the arm 92. So that when the member 45 is retracted, the pin 102 strikes the cutwardly extending portion 103 and rocks the arm 92 in a clockwise direction, thus permitting the brake shoe 92 to move away from the guide rod 23 as the flat surface 91 assumes a position substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the guide rod. As the brake shoe 92 moves away 'jcause other serious damage.

from the guide rod, the retarding effect of the brake shoe is lost and the bearing block 24 and feed plate 27 are free to move longitudinally of the guide rod.

The cam slots 5S and 60 are so arranged as to first retract the members 52 and 53 from engagement with the feed screw as the member moves to the left as viewed in ligs. l and 2, and thereafter to cause the pin 1Q2 to` engage the extension 103 on the arm 92 to move the arm 92 in a clockwise direction against the action of the spring 1G() causing the fiat surface 91 on the member 89 to assume a position substantially parallel with the guide rod 23 and thereby release the brake Vshoe 92. In order to readily release the arms 52 and 53 from engagement with the feed screw and to thereafter :release the brake shoe 92', it is only necessary to place the hand over the lrnurled head 4o and operating member 68 and arranged the thumb and forennger against the sides of these members which are farthest away from each other and by squeezing with the hand draw these members towards each other. In order to retract the lever 48 a considerable amount of pressure is needed in view of the fact that the spring 6l exerts a considerable force on the meinber 45 to move this member to the right, and the force exerted on the lever 43. must overcome the pressure exerted by the spring 6l. By pro- Vjviding the knurled head adjacent the operating member 68 on the arm 48, one can grasp these last two mentioned members and draw them towards each other, thus rocking the arm 48 about its pivot without having the force which rocls the 'jarm cause movement of the block 24 longitudinally of the guide rod 23 as would be the case if one were merely to grasp the member 68 and exert a force thereon in the direction of the cutting plane of the knife. If the arm 48 were operated in this last mentioned manner, as soon as the feed nut and brake were released, the force being exerted to hold. the arm 48 to the left would cause the block 24 to move towards the cutting plane of the knife and perhaps foul the knife or If the arm 48 is operated in the manner described however, the forces are balanced, and do not tend to move the block 24 along the guide rod 23 and while the hand is holding the arm 48 in its retracted posi- 'ltion with the members 52 and 53 out of engagement with the feed screw and with the brake shoe 92 out of engagement with the guide rod, one may voluntarily move the block 24 along the guide rod 23 for any purpose desired. Usually the purpose is to retract the feed plate to its extreme right-hand position as viewed in Fig. 1 to enable one to readily place the next substance to be sliced on the feed plate 27.

With the arrangement which I have described,

I have provided a friction braking means which retards movement of the bearing block 24 along the guide rod and which may be released when desired for permitting free movement of the bearing block along the guide rod so that itfwill not be necessary to move the bearing block and feed plate against the action of the friction braking means as the bearing block and feed plate are moved to their extreme retracted position.

If desired, means may be provided for locking the arm 4S in adjusted position, but ordinarily this will not be necessary as it is ordinarily only desirable to temporarily release the brake shoe 92. Other means may be used to operate the various parts such as the part as it is very apparent that if desired I may use an operating member rigidly secured to the block 45 for moving the same towards the left instead of using the arm 48 as illustrated.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modied arrangement of the operating means for the brake shoe 92'. In this modification instead of using an enlarged portion 9G such as used in the form illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 for moving the brake shoe against the guide rod, I use an enlarged portion 99 which is in the form of an eccentric or cam which gives substantially the same eiect as the dat surface 91 on the enlarged portion 90 shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The remaining parts of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 4 are identical with the corresponding part shown in the remaining figures and are adapted to be used in the same combination which is illustrated in Fig. l.

It will be noted in connection with the operation vof the arm 48 that the arms 52 and 53 are released from the feed screw before the brake shoe is released from its engagement with the guide rod 23, but it will be understood if desired, that I may simultaneously disengage the members 52 and 53 from the feed screw rand release the brake shoel from its engagement with the guide rod 23, or I may provide separate means for operating the block 45 and the arm 92. Furthermore, it is possible to mount the pin 102 on the arm 48 and have this pin engage the extension 103 on the arm 92 to release the brake shoe.

Other modifications of my invention will readily occur to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains, and therefore I do not wish to limit my invention except as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described two embodiments of my invention what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A slicing machine comprising a guide rod, a bearing member slidable along said guide rod, a feed plate releasably secured to said bearing member comprising releasable interconnecting means between said bearing member and said feed plate, an operating member for actuating said releasable interconnecting means, a brake for retarding movement of said bearing member along said guide rod, and an operating member for releasing said brake, said operating members being arranged in a position closely adjacent each other so that both may be grasped simultaneously by the hand of the operator to draw the members relatively toward each other to actuate the operating member for the brake, the operating pressure necessary to actuate the member for releasing the interconnecting means being in a direction other than the direction in which the members are moved relative to each other to release said brake, whereby the operating member for the brake is actuated when said members are drawn toward each other without actuating said operating member for the releasable intercormecting means.

2. A slicing machine comprising a feed table, a supporting table on which said feed table is mounted, interengaging guiding surfaces on said tables, a brake separate from said guiding surfaces for retarding relative movement between said tables, means for feeding said feed table relatively to said supporting table, means separate from the guiding means for actuating said brake comprising quick-acting cam means for moving said brake into engagement with one of said guiding surfaces which moves relatively to said brake, means for normally actuating said cam in a direction to move said` brake into engagement with said guiding surface, and. means for releasing said cam to permit said tables to be moved relatively to each other without being under the retarding influence of said brake.

3. A slicing machi e comprising an under table and a feed table movable relatively to each other, a guide rod on one of said tables engaging a guiding surface on the other of said tables, a feed screw on one of said tables, means for rotating said feed screw, a feed nut on the other of said tables, a quickly releasable cam normally urged in a direction. lto move said feed nut into engagement with said feed screw, a friction brake on one of said tables operativen ly engaging means fixed relatively to the other of said tables, a cam normally urged in a direction to actuate said brake into engagement with said guide rod to impart a substantial retarding effect on the relative movement between said tables under the influence of said feed screw, and a member for actuating both of said cams successively, said first mentioned cam being released first to release the feed nut prior to actuating of the second cam which releases the brake.

4. In a slicing machine, the combination with an under table, of a feed table mounted for relative movement thereon, co-operating guiding surfaces on said tables for guiding said feed table along a predetermined path relative to said under table, feeding mechanism for feeding the feed table relatively to said under table, a brake eparate from said guiding surfaces for retarding relative movement of said feed table and under table and releasable without affecting the guid- `its engagement with said feed screw, a yielding means for normally urging said member in a direction to cause engagement between said feed screw and said feed nut, a brake movable with said feed table and adapted to engage said guide rod to retard movement of said feed table along said guide rod, a member for actuating said brake, means for normally urging said last mentioned member yieldingly in a direction to cause engagement of said brake with said guide rod, means for moving said first mentioned member to release said feed nut from its engagement with said feed screw, and means for moving said second mentioned member to release said brake, said means for actuating said second mentioned Y member acting after a predetermined movement of said first mentioned member.

6. In a slicing machine, the combination with a guide rod, of a bearing member embracing and being positively guided by said rod independently of other means and being prevented from movement relative to said guide rod other than along said guide rod, a feed plate carried by said bearing member, means for feeding said bearing member along said guide rod, a brake engaging said guide rod to retard the movement of said bearing member and means for urging said brake into engagement with said guide rod with a yielding pressure during the feeding of said bearing member along said guide rod.

7. In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicing knife, of a substance supporting carriage movable past said knife, a guide rod4 on said carriage arranged substantially perpendicular to the plane of said guide rod, a bearing member positively guided by said guide rod to and from the cutting plane of said knife and embracing said guide rod to an extent to prevent movement in a direction away from saidguide rod, a brake on said bearing member opposed to the surface of said guide rod, means for feeding said member along said. guide rod, a feed plate secured to said bearing member and. means for urging said brake into engagement with said guide rod during the feeding movement of said bearing member whereby the overrun ofthe carriage during the feeding movement is prevented.

8. In a slicing machine, the combination With a slicing knife, of a carriage movable relative tosaid slicing knife in a direction parallel to the cutting plane of said knife, a feed plate mounted on said carriage, a guide rod on said carriage arranged at a substantial angle to the cutting plane of the knife, a bearing member on said feed plate embracing a portion of said guide rod and positively guided thereby, a brake on said bearing member movable into engagement with the guide rod for retarding the movement of the bearing member along said guide rod, means for feeding said bearing member along said guide rod, said bearing member being operative to be guided by said guide rod independently of said brake Without permitting movement of said bearing member relative to said guide rod in a direction other than longitudinally thereof.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8, which includes means for releasing said brake, means for releasing said feeding means and a single means operable to actuate both of said releasing i i means and capable of actuating the means for releasing said feeding means without releasing said brake.

l0. A device as claimed in claim 8, which includes means for releasing said brake, means for releasing said feeding means and a single means operable to actuate both of said releasing means and capable of actuating one of said releasing means without actuating the other of said releasing means.

l1. In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicing knife and a substance supporting table movable relative to each other in a direction parallel to the cutting plane of said knife, a guide bar on said table extending at a substantial angle to the cutting plane of said knife, a member embracing said guide bar and positively guided thereby solely by its own operative engagement therewith, a brake carried by said bearing member adapted to operatively engage said bar to retard the movement of said bearing member therealong, a feed plate releasably secured to said bearing member, means for feeding said bearing member along said bar, and means for releasing said brake and for releasing said feeding means.

12. In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicing knife and a substance supporting table movable relative to each other in a direction parallel to the cutting plane of said knife, a guide bar on said table extending at a substantial angle to the cutting plane of said knife, a member embracing said guide bar and positively guided thereby solely by its own operative engagement therewith, a brake carried by said lil) Yzo

bearing member adapted to operatively engage said bar to retard the movement of said bearing member therealong, a feed plate releasably secured to said bearing member, means for feeding said bearing member along said bar, and means for releasing said brake and for releasing said feeding means, comprising a single member movably carried by said bearing member and operable to successively release said feeding means and said brake.

13. In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicing knife, of a guide rod extending at a substantial angle to the cutting plane of said knife, a bearing member mounted on and positively guided by said guide rod and being prevented solely by its own engagement with the guide rod from movement other than longitudinally of said guide rod, means for feeding said WILHELMUS ADRIANUS VAN BERKEL. 

